I Thought It Was You

Herbie Hancock recorded I Thought It Was You for the 1978 album Sunlight, with the main album sessions recorded and mastered at The Automatt in San Francisco and additional synthesizer work at Different Fur Trading Co. Hancock performed keyboards, synthesizers, vocoder vocals, and arrangements, joined on the track by Wah Wah Watson, Ray Parker Jr., Byron Miller, Leon Ndugu Chancler, Raul Rekow, and a horn section. I Thought It Was You was released as a CBS single in 1978 and became one of Hancock's most visible vocal-and-vocoder records. It reached number 15 on the UK singles chart, giving Hancock a rare pop-chart hit during his late-1970s fusion period. The track became a key reference point for Hancock's use of the vocoder and his move toward electronic dance-oriented production before Future Shock. Its long groove, synthesizer texture, and vocal treatment kept it visible in later jazz-funk, electro, and club retrospectives.